Something weird is happening on Capitol Hill right now.
Something just about unprecedented: Republicans and Democrats are agreeing on a multibillion-dollar health policy proposal.
Last week, legislators released a plan to overhaul how Medicare pays doctors, one that would do away with the “doc-fix” ritual and more closely tether the amount that providers make to the quality of care they provide.
The plan — which you can read in full here — would repeal the sustainable growth rate, the formula that Congress has used since the mid-1990s to set Medicare rates. The problem with the sustainable growth rate is it isn’t sustainable at all: The rates that it sets, which were meant to hold down Medicare costs, would result in a double-digit pay cut for doctors. So each year — or sometimes, every few months — Congress appropriates additional funding to keep doctor salaries constant.
Read the full report here.
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